


Too Little, Too Late?

by DixionDiva



Category: Walking Dead, Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-18
Updated: 2013-07-18
Packaged: 2017-12-20 13:17:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/887723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DixionDiva/pseuds/DixionDiva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carol has been working too hard, she's tired and someone has noticed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Too Little, Too Late?

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing but my imagination, The Walking Dead (TV) etc. belongs to others. I am only borrowing the characters for a short while and promise to return them no worse for wear. No money was made from this fan fiction and no copy write infringement was intended.

 

 

 

 

 

_**Too little, too late?** _

     Carol was tired, she hadn't been sleeping well. Judith had been fussy for the last three days. Getting Carol up at all hours of the night. She'd also gotten up at the crack of dawn to fix breakfast for the growing group. Maggie and Beth helped distribute the food to the other cell block. After she ate a small portion, she had gathered their dirty clothes for washing. Even with Maggie and Karen helping her, Carol had just finished the wash and then only because nothing else could be put on the lines that Rick and Daryl had strung for their wash when it was just their small group. It was well past lunchtime and though something was made for the elderly folks of the Woodbury group, she had made sure Beth and Carl had both eaten. She sent the girls to pour the wash water on the garden they had started. Stifling a yawn, she stretched her arms up and arched her back. Stumbling back some, Carol was sure she was going to fall to the ground. Suddenly, an arm caught her by the shoulders and steadied her. Carol couldn't even imagine where Daryl had come from. Last she knew he was out hunting. When had he arrived? Why did she have to stumble in front of him?

         "Ya work too hard, Woman." Daryl stated.

         "I have to pull my own weight, Daryl." Carol said to him.

     She was trying to calm her racing heart and slow her rapid breathing. Carol was acutely aware that his left arm was still draped around her shoulders. His right hand held the strap of his crossbow. She looked around and saw Karen was watching them so intently that she lowered her end of the tub. Water splashed her legs before Maggie could compensate. She heard Maggie yelling at Karen for it. Then Daryl surprised her by chuckling and pulling her along toward the prison.

          "Ya need to rest." Daryl insisted.

          "Daryl, there's work to be done. We all have to-" Carol started.

          "Woman! Don't try ta tell me ya just pullin' ya weight! They's a lot a people here don't pull they own

           weight, and that don't mean ya gotta pull it f'r 'em!"

          "What? I do the work I can Daryl, just as you do." Carol fired back.

          "Well, I don't let no one take a'van'age o' me do I! You let ev'r one take a rest, get some food, hell just  

           relax 'cause ev'r one knows that Carol'll do the work no one wants ta do!" Daryl argued.

     Carol couldn't think what to say, she had not realized that Daryl watched her so closely. She could hardly believe he cared so much. When had there friendship changed to something more for him? Maybe she was reading too much into this. He was probably just looking out for a friend.

     Daryl suddenly averted his eyes and said, "Sorry if I scared ya, just don't like that ev'r one takes ya f'r gran'ed." He raised his hand towards his mouth.

           "You didn't," Carol said as she grabbed his hand to stop him from performing that habit. "I guess I just

            didn't realize it mattered to anyone, what I did."

           "It matters to me, Woman." Daryl stated.

     Carol had not realized they were so close until he took her lips in a tender kiss. Her free hand splayed on his chest, not to push him away, but to feel his heart racing as her own was. The kiss ended and he pulled away slowly.

            "Now go get ya some rest, Woman." Daryl said as he took the string of squirrels and rabbits from his back. He paused at the door and said, "I'll wake ya f'r dinner." He was gone before she could protest.

     Carol had no intention of taking a nap, she was going to her cell for a lantern so she could check the storage room for something to go with the meat for tonight's dinner. She thought there might be some boxes of Rice-a-Roni from the last time Glen and Rick had gone on a run. If there wasn't enough of it, she could always add Veg-All to stretch it out. As she reached across the bunk in her cell for the lantern she used to read by at night, she slipped and fell on the mattress. Laughing at her clumsiness she rolled onto her back and felt a wave of exhaustion hit her so suddenly she had to fight to open her eyes, but soon she lost the fight.

_**{Carol was working in a large house with many rooms, she cooked and cleaned for the people who lived here. Most never even took notice of her. She knew some of them, called there names and asked for help with the chores and cooking, but they always seemed not to have heard her. Carol was so tired, so weak from hunger as she could only eat after everyone else had had there fill and that usually meant she had to scrape her meal from the sides and bottom of the pots. Seeing Karen in the hall as she struggled with a basket of dirty clothes, Carol called to the woman asking for help to take it to the laundry room. Somehow, Carol knew that unlike the others, this woman heard her. Carol's temper flared as the woman looked at her and pointedly turned away. She was purposely ignoring Carol. As she turned to give the girl a piece of her mind, the front door opened in stepped Daryl Dixon. To Carol's utter shock, Karen squealed and launched herself at him. Daryl caught her and kissed her hungrily! Carol felt herself falling to her knees in disbelief. Daryl looked at her scornfully and laughed. "Carol," he said in a strangely feminine voice. "Carol, it's time to get up."--}** _

     Carol felt a small hand on her shoulder, giving her a gentle shake. As the voice spoke again,"Carol, Daryl asked me to wake you for dinner. It's time to get up."

     Waking slowly she looked around and took a moment to recognize the cell she called her own. Focusing on Beth and the bars behind her she noticed the light was dim, it must be neigh on sunset. Panic rose in her chest as the realized she hadn't started dinner yet. Just as swiftly the realization that no one was going to beat her for not having dinner on the table when they came in. Ed was long gone and neither Rick nor Daryl would let anyone put their hands on any of the women.

           "Beth," Carol slurred, as she failed to stop the yawn and settled for covering it with a hand instead. 

           "Oh, I suppose dinner will be -"

           "Dinner's being served, Rick made the Woodbury ladies pitch in to help me. One was down right

            squeamish about touching the squirrels and rabbits, until the older lady took them and cut them up. After      

            that she was fine. We made stew and put in canned veggies. Another lady came over with a big box of            

            Bisquick and made some biscuits." Beth interrupted.

            "Oh," Carol said in a small voice.

      Suddenly she felt use-less. In a flash she remembered two kisses involving a certain hunter, then she remembered he'd said he would wake her from the nap he had insisted she take. Why hadn't he done so? Had he regretted the kiss he'd given her? Or had Karen offered him a better deal? Carol felt queasy at that thought. Carol was not sure she could eat if she walked into the dinning hall and saw Daryl with Karen. She was not sure she could stay in the prison if they became a couple, even if they didn't flaunt it as they had in her dream. Beth had pulled her to her feet and out into the corridor before she could invent an ailment to beg of going out there and discovering her worst fears had come true.

     She heard his footfall on the stairs to his perch just as she was going to speak. He drew her eyes to him as a magnet pulls the iron from the sand. Beth let go of her arm and moved up to take Judith from him, he let her take the baby. His eyes never left Carol, he had looked her over as he came down the stairs. She thought a look of smugness flitted across his face, but if it had it was gone so fast she wasn't sure if it had really been there.

           "See ya got some rest." He stated.

           "Yeah, I guess I did." Carol answered noncommittally.

     She wasn't sure she'd gotten rest with what she'd been dreaming. Daryl's eyes swept the corridor and then his hand went to her cheek and he brushed his thumb under her eye. Had it been anyone else it would not have felt so personal, so intimate. Carol felt her heart kick into high gear. She couldn't take her eyes off his face. Giving her a small smile he said,

             "Ya need more rest, Woman. S'pose I shou'n't complain. Thought I was gonna hav'ta come in and carry      

              ya ta bed when I heard all the pots and pans bangin' around."

     Carol flushed pink and he pulled his hand back in a hurry as he realized what he had said. Pink tinged his high cheeks and he ducked his head in embarrassment. He looked at her through his fringe of hair and tried to see if she had been offended by the picture he had not meant to make. She caught his hand as he raised it toward his mouth. She felt her heart flutter at her boldness, but she stood on tiptoe and kissed him. Daryl pulled her tight against him. Pulling his mouth away only to enable them both to breath, he held her close. Carol wondered if it was to keep her from either running or falling.

      She felt boneless, weak and yet a new strength seemed to course through her. Daryl lessened his hold and waited for her to dictate the next move. Carol pulled back to look at him and caught the grin he was trying to hide.

          "What are you grinning about?" She asked, one fist going to her hip. Her eyes narrowed as she thought he might be laughing at her.

          "Been wond'rin' when ya'd get 'round ta kissin' me." He said, no longer trying to hide the grin.

     She couldn't help the huge smile that spread across her face in answer. They turned and headed to the dinning hall together. As they entered the hall Daryl motioned her to the tables with a jerk of his head as he went to the line to get the bowls of stew. As he was standing there, he noticed that some of the new crowd from Woodbury were in line or sitting around and that the trays they made for the older folks were gone. As his eyes moved back to Carol he noticed the blond man with gray in his beard walking over to her. Carol had chosen the empty table in the back corner because of all the extra people in the dinning hall today. She knew Daryl would prefer to be back here away from the press of bodies. She could understand his feelings, she was not used to being in large groups of people when anonymity was not possible. She had not liked the quarry because the group had grown, but everyone seemed to know who you were even if they didn't know your name. When she took her seat and looked up to see where Daryl was in the line she was surprised to see a man was blocking the view.

           "Oh," she said softly, then in her normal voice, "Hello, I'm Carol, can I help you with something?"

            "I was wonderin' why a pretty little thing like ya was a-sittin' back here awl alone." The man drawled in a Georgian accent.

            "Mr.?" she asked.

             "Ya c'n call me Big Daddy." He drawled with a big grin for her.

             "No thank you. As I started to say, I am saving a seat for my friend while he gets our plates." She answered politely.

              "Don' be like tha'." He said as he moved to her side.

     Carol leaned away from him and hunched in on herself, years of having to shrink away from Ed's blows had been ingrained. She realized what she was doing and deliberately moved back into her seat. Daryl walked up with two plates, eyes narrowed and shoulders tense. The guy took Daryl in and recognition of a dangerous predator flashed in his eyes. The guy took an involuntary step back from the table.

               "This guy botherin' ya?" He asked Carol without taking his eyes from the man.

     Carol felt the tension in the room increase, assessing the situation she answered calmly to try to diffuse the situation.

                "No, not at all, Daryl. He was just about to introducing himself."

     She placed a hand on his wrist as she took the bowl with the other hand. Daryl was a bit surprised that he hadn't even twitched, normally he would have jumped out of his skin if anyone touched him. He supposed it was because it was Carol, he had gotten used to her brand of touching. His body seemed to just know it was her, even if he was lost in thought. Daryl's face never changed from the stony expression, he grunted in acknowledgment.

                  "You were saying?" Carol asked the man to bring his attention back to her.

                  "Uh- the name's John." He answered, eyes darting back to Daryl again.

                   "Ya done now?" Daryl asked.

     John nodded and moved back to the table he'd been sitting at when he'd noticed Carol weaving her way between tables. Carol felt the tension dissipate and let out a sigh of relief. Daryl sat down next to her and let out a soft chuckle. The sound made her smile. He picked up the spoon and began to eat. She felt like she should thank him for the rescue, but she also felt like she should be upset with him for the macho display. Confused and a bit embarrassed by the indecent she pushed all thought away and began to eat. Daryl saw she was playing with her food, she'd only eaten half the stew. He was about done and so decided to watch her eat. Almost everyone had left the dinning hall.

     Beth came over and gave them each a biscuit. Carol ate a few mouthfuls of stew with the bread. When it was gone, she again started to play with the stew. He bumped her leg softly with his. The action jarred her out of her thoughts as she looked at him in surprise. He was smirking into his bowl. She smiled and ate her stew, watching him do the same. Daryl finished first but did not rise as she'd expected. When she finished he took the bowls to the sink. Carol stayed seated, shaking her head in disbelief.

     Daryl turned and crooked a finger to call her over. She stood as he moved toward the outer door. Meeting him as he pushed it open and held it for her to walk through, she preceded him out and paused to look at him over her shoulder. He took her hand in his calloused one and tugged her with him as he began to walk the courtyard. Stopping in a shadowed corner he turned to her. Not sure what was happening, Carol waited for him to speak or do something. When the silence became awkward for her she shifted her weight from her right foot to her left. Daryl leaned against the wall and looked as if he too was at a loss. Carol was starting to feel foolish, like a silly schoolgirl, the bookworm who had cornered the schools hunk in the dark outside the gym and now couldn't figure out what to do next.

          "I don' know what 'm doin'," he finally said to her, " ne'er had anyone, but Ma and Merle, that I gave a          

          shit 'bout."

     After a long pause he huffed,

           "Don' know nothin' 'bout romance. Hell can't even see m'self doing the shit I see Glen do f'r Maggie...

            'spose ta court a fine woman like ya."

     He said, shaking his head like he was indicating that would never happen.

           "Daryl?" She asked softly, "What are you talking about?"

     She suspected her confusion was because he had not let go of her hand when they reached this spot and his thumb was tracing lazy circles on the back of her hand.

            "Look, I know 'm jus' a ugly, good f'r nothin' redneck 'n ya deserve a lot better 'n all."

     He said in a rush then taking a breath before continuing,

            "Damn it, Woman, I - I want ya f'r m'self!" He told her.

     The silence fallowing that statement was deafening. Carol could not find her voice. How do you thank God for answering a prayer you could never even ask for, but wanted with all your heart? She wanted to tell him that he might be a red-neck but was certainly not a good for nothing and most definitely was not ugly! She wanted to say that it was she that didn't deserve a man like him. That she was just a skinny, worthless plane faced old lady and he deserved far better then her, but she could not get anything past her lips. Daryl took the silence as rejection, figuring she did not want to embarrass him further then he'd already done himself. He let go of her hand and dropping his head he shifted sideways on the wall to move around her. In shear desperation, she grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Praying silently that this wasn't too little, too late. She grabbed the back of his head and pulled him to her as she stretched up to meet his lips....

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Comments and Kudos are Love.  
> AN- The bold brackets indicate dreams.


End file.
